In endoscopic systems, artificial light must be provided for operation of an image sensor within an endoscope. While conventional systems have used various lighting solutions, including incandescent bulbs, light emitting diodes, and lasers, to provide light for an image sensor of an endoscope, when disposed within a body of a person (or animal), characteristics of light provided by these solutions result in endoscopic images with low resolution and quality.
One characteristic of this provided light is the intensity of the provided light versus power transmitted into a waveguide. It is desirable to provide a maximum amount of light at the lowest possible power rating with the purpose of not burning out a light waveguide within an endoscope. At the same time, however, it is undesirable, in the case of lasers, to provide too much directed light at a scene because this directed light results in glare and a non-homogenous mixture of light at the scene. This non-optimal scene lighting may make operation of the endoscope more difficult for the user.
Another characteristic of this provided light is the angle at which the light is provided. For example, variations in the angle of light transmitted into a waveguide leads to variations in the amount of light that is emitted from the waveguide. This variation in angle can also lead to a non-homogenous mixture of light at a scene. This non-optimal scene lighting may make operation of the endoscope more difficult for the user.
Accordingly, it is one object of this disclosure to provide a light emitter which provides a homogenous lighting environment of the correct intensity and angle to efficiently light an endoscope scene for an image sensor.